Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Uncovering neural epigenetic mechanisms of early-life exercise influencing brain function across the lifespan

Aerobic physical activity is an incredibly powerful tool for improving learning and memory in rodents and humans. There is an extensive body of literature underlying neurobiological mechanisms of physical exercise, discoveries made primarily in preclinical rodent models, and these mechanisms have high potential for being extrapolated to humans. However, most of these studies have been performed in adult or aging rodents without significant consideration for how exercise can uniquely impact the developing nervous system. The focus of our research is on physical activity interventions during sensitive early life periods of brain development to discover molecular mechanisms implicated in improving long term cognitive outcomes. Projects to date have focused on understanding if 1) aerobic exercise has a unique and lasting impact on cognitive function in the developing vs the adult brain, 2) early life exercise recruits epigenetic mechanisms in neurons to persistently alter neuronal function and memory processes throughout the lifespan, and 3) early life exercise, and/or targeting epigenetic mechanisms activated by exercise, can be used as intervention to mitigate memory dysfunction in neurocognitive disorders. Using cutting-edge tools in molecular epigenetics, transgenic and biological rodent models, and novel behavioral tasks, the lab has not only innovated new technical epigenetic approaches in neurons but is on a path to illuminating important early discoveries regarding the sustained impacts of early life exercise by characterizing transcriptomic and epigenomic “signatures” of exercise.